


You Don't Need To Change For Anybody.

by BunnyJess



Category: DCU, Deathstroke the Terminator (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Accidental drug overdose, Alpha Bruce Wayne, Alpha Dick Grayson, Alpha Slade Wilson, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Blood, Bruce Wayne is a Bad Parent, Bruce Wayne is a Bad alpha, Coma, Confrontations, Discrimination, Family of Choice, Good Parent Talia al Ghul, Hurt Jason Todd, Jason Todd Deserves Happiness, Jason Todd Has Issues, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, Jason Todd Needs Help, Jason protecting kids, Love, M/M, Mates, Medical Procedures, Mentions of Roy Harper - Freeform, Negotiations, Nesting, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Omega Abuse, Omega Jason Todd, Omega Oppression, Protective Slade Wilson, Self Harm, Self-Doubt, Self-Hatred, Technology, Tracking, Verbal Abuse, Verbal Humiliation, Violence, Worried Slade, attempt at dynamic change, attempt at sex change, botched dynamic change, botched sex change, drug overdose, mentions of Donna Troy, mentions of Kyle rayner - Freeform, mentions of koriand’r, mentions of outlaws, protective talia, worried Alfred
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-04
Updated: 2020-03-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:01:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23012164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BunnyJess/pseuds/BunnyJess
Summary: Jason answers a call for help from the Bats and goes, despite all the reservations of his mate. After he goes missing Slade gets worried. Justifiably so when he discovers the state his mate is in. It's enough to make him want to kill the Bats, he'd run off to do just that if the situation wasn't so dire.
Relationships: Jason Todd/Slade Wilson
Comments: 23
Kudos: 360





	1. Chapter 1

It wasn’t often that anxiety bordering on panic twisted Slade gut anymore. He’d become hardened to the ways of the world and his life long before they’d met. However, tonight was different. He couldn’t say how exactly, but it was.

Jason had run back to Gotham as soon as his family had called citing an emergency. His gorgeous omega mate who deserved the world and had a heart too big for his own good had heeded the call. Refusing Slade’s offer of support and back-up.

The older alpha had agreed to stay behind in their Blüdhaven safehouse. Jason had had to promise to call regularly and wear his tracker. He’d been doing just that. So it made no sense for Slade to be as worried as he was.

The omega had been gone for a week, a short timeframe compared to other times they’d been apart. Still, Slade just couldn’t settle. His instincts were haywire. His stomach felt like it was going to rebel his lunch. Hell, even his hands shook when he’d tried to do some target practice to ease his mind.

There was only one thing he could think to do. Picking up his phone and dialling the number like second nature. As always it was answered on the second ring by a crisp British accent. “Wayne residence, Alfred Pennyworth speaking. How may I help you today?”

Such formality, _no wonder the kid was so touch-starved when we got together_ Slade thought. He nearly scoffed, only catching it at the last minute because he needed the old man’s help. “It’s Slade, Jay came to help you guys and,” he didn’t want to admit something felt off. It looks like a weakness, but… He huffed put a breath to control his reaction. “I wouldn’t normally ask but is he okay? Something, something just doesn’t feel right.”

There was a minor tremble over the line, as if it the caller was suddenly nervous or upset. “We haven’t seen Master Jason in twelve hours Master Wilson. Do you have a means of,”

“Yeah, leave it with me. I’ll get back to you Al.” He’d never admit it yet he’d found himself growing fond of the man his mate saw as a grandfather. It didn’t help that the beta was also friends with Wintergreen. Two gossipy Brits together had been a lethal combination at their _very_ small wedding.

Pulling up the custom tracking app on his phone, Slade input the correct combination to turn Jason’s tracker to emergency search. A small hidden feature he’d had Roy install after Jason ran off on the ginger omega during a job that caused him to be called in. If he could find his mate this way then there was no need for extensive, pointless searching.

A small blue dot appeared on the screen. The blinking letting him know it was active and on the designated wearer. It would have calmed Slade if the vitals it were reading weren’t so drastic. Heart rate low, blood pressure getting there. The breathing rate it could pick up was shockingly high too.

Even after almost fifty years it amazed Slade how his instincts could drive him. He had lost focus looking at the blue dot, only to come back to himself already crossing Gotham city limits less than forty minutes later. His scent overpowering the sewn in blockers of his suit as the worry devolved into panic.

The safehouse Slade came to looked horrible. There were crumbling bricks, windows boarded up, graffiti on most of the outside that was punctuated by bullet holes. If his mate was inside then he wanted to rip him a new one for living in a clearly condemned building.

As soon as his foot crossed the threshold he knew something wasn’t right. The smell of blood got stronger with each step, along with the stench of his mate’s self-hatred. A rumbling growl filled the vacant air, Slade realising too late that his body had already started trying to soothe _his_ omega.

Walking through the two-up two-down Slade felt like his panic was ratcheting up higher with every step. His palms gaining a thin sheen of sweat. Growl thickening. Body ready to beat down anyone hurting his mate.

Instead the scene that greeted him made bile rise in his throat. His eyes going glassy and the growl growing more protective. “Jay, Honey-badger, can you hear me?” His knees gave out at the side of the military cot. Hitting the concrete floor with a resounding thud.

The younger omega was still breathing erratically. His body trying to hold on, to fight for him. Showing the grit that had caught Slade’s eye.

Shaking his head, Slade slipped into his previous military mindset. Asses. Yes, that’s what he had to do first. He had to assess Jason, try to peace together what happened.

Unfortunately as soon as he’d engaged that mindset his gaze caught on the evidence surrounding Jason. His knife was bloody. The scent revealing it had only been used on the young omega recently. A couple of empty pill bottles and bags. At least immediate treatment was something Slade could do while calling Billy for evac.

There was blood around Jason’s neck and wrists. Evidence he’d tried to cut out his scent glands, luckily unsuccessfully. Slade couldn’t resist pressing a kiss to his mate’s head when he saw that Jason hadn’t cut near their mating bite. He’d left that area clear.

The labels on the pill bottles were even more damning. Each one was a different formula of hormone replacement therapy intended for omegas who were trans and needing alpha hormones. Slade had a strong idea of what had gone down between the Bats and his mate if this was the state he’d found him in. He just hoped like hell he was wrong. One of the bottles was, rather sensibly, a vial of morphine. Completely empty but at least he knew his mate had injected himself with pure shit and didn’t have the disgusting additives found in heroine coursing through his system on top of everything else.

Every Bat; hell, nearly every vigilante; carried a Narcan pen. A small nasal device to help counteract drug overdose. He pulled it from the designated pocket, “I’ll replace it my Honey-badger, I promise.” With his final words no more than a whisper, He shoved the sponge up into Jason’s nose. His finger depressing the syringe.

Narcan was a wonder drug. Within moments Jason was lucid once again. Slade feeling like he would break if it hadn’t as intended. He wraps the omega’s wounds while they try to remember what happened.

“Slade?” Voice cracking from disuse or screaming, the alpha couldn’t tell. All he could pick up on was how utterly broken his mate was.

Pausing in his movements, Slade swiped his cheek across Jason’s head. Moving down to rub their noses together, for no other reason than he loves the way it makes his omega blush. “What happened Jay? Even Alfred didn’t know what had happened to you.” He caught the flinch Jason tried to hide, although it wouldn’t have been necessary after the whimper of pain the younger man also let out.

Instead of answering Jason reached for his helmet. Propping the red coated piece of technical and engineering excellency on the floor between them. He turned his head away, unable to watch what he’d lived through.

Eyes glowing, light flickering, noise cutting in and out with a gust of wind over the mic. Slade could already tell it was going to be bad. There was no other reason for his omega to be in such a state otherwise.

A flickering image of Bruce appeared on the wall. He looked to be fuming, clearly upset about something that had happened. A whimper that was distinctly that of a pup came through the mic. The view moved to look down at a head of matted, filthy blonde hair. It was clear that the pup was young, far younger than even Robin.

“Red Hood, you disobeyed a direct order.” Batman growled. Completely ignoring how Slade’s mate was trying to soothe a pup.

View flicking back up, Batman clenched his fists as his face distorted into something truly ugly. “I fucking picked saving the kids over following your shitty orders. They was going to kill them because we’d come. You understand now?”

Nightwing stepped into view. His hand resting on the Bat’s shoulder. The pair exchanged quiet words but the disappointment didn’t stop radiating from the furry bastard.

“I should never have agreed with Nightwing to bring you onto this case. You’re an omega who is only peripherally associated with our pack.” The lenses flicked up harshly. Full view now frozen on the Bat.

“You think this is because of my designation? That I what, ignored you to save the kids because I’m a knot whore?” His voice was whisper soft in the playback, hurt and resignation spilling out. Slade knew that the voice modifier of the helmet would have filtered all of that out though.

“I think that you ignored orders because you’re weaker than us. You aren’t able to focus on the mission when children are involved. None of the rest of our team disobeyed; only you.” Slade knew what was coming. Knew the final nail was about to be smashed home harder than a Mongul punch. “Only the omega disobeyed.”

Unable to watch anymore. Sure that it would mainly contain his sweet, caring Jay comforting the pup and then running. A crash was followed by the sound of splintering carbon fibre as Slade threw the helmet across the room into a wall. The shiny red surface impacting where a concrete joist was.

The whole picture was clear to him now. Rejected by the first alpha he’d seen as a pack leader; his mate had run off and tried to do an ‘at home’ gender reassignment. Slade was a good decade older than the Bat. He’d grown up in a time when omegas were to be seen and not heard. His father had beat the whole family but had been particularly nasty to his mum. If you had been a male omega at the time it was even worse. You were seen as nothing more than an outlet for a packs frustration. Many ending up locked away.

He’d known those views still persevered in ‘high society’. The mercenary having snuck into a fair few Wayne galas over the years. He’d been witness to the respect Bruce gave to Dick and Tim, his two alpha sons. Unfortunately, he’d also been witness to the way Bruce seemed to prostitute out dances with Jason despite how uncomfortable it made the boy. Slade thought the man had changed. His pack had been so accepting of Jason. Had welcomed him back into the fold once he got his head clear and even helped Alfred get to their wedding.

Now Slade knew the truth. He knew how Jason’s adoptive father viewed him. How he clearly thought Jason was controlled by his biology. It probably didn’t help that he was the only ‘Bat’ not on suppressants as he wanted a pup of his own with his mate. Slade has been overjoyed at the idea; determined to do better with any new pups than he had been with his older children. Being with Jason had even helped improve the relationships he had with Joey and Rose. Both seeing how Jason had gotten Slade to open up. Affection no longer being shown through false protection.

A calmingly familiar sequence of beeps came through his comm unit. Billy was outside, ready for extraction. He scooped his mate into his arms. The man having dropped back into slumber. Stress wearing his energy reserves. Slade could only hope that Jason wouldn’t go into a stress heat. With the condition he was in, Slade wasn’t sure his mate would survive. He could worry about all that later.

Getting Jason to safety came first. Slade wasn’t surprised when Billy informed that he’d contacted Dr Leslie Thompkins and Alfred. Both were like grandparents to Jason, with the added advantage of having medical expertise.

Running a hand through his mate’s black and white hair he rumbled a soothing purr. His other hand skittering along the injuries Jason had self-inflicted. If they were able to get him only kidney filtration and omega hormone replacement therapy soon enough then there would be no lasting physical damage aside from a handful of new scars. His mate had clearly been too out of it with heartbreak and morphine to cut clearly. The scent glands all intact.

Blood may have been flaking off Jason’s forehead. His hair a tangled mess with obvious chunks missing from being torn out. Neck and wrists a cut up mess. None of it mattered to Slade. His mate was still the most beautifully stubborn and powerful omega he’d seen. He just hoped that stubbornness was going to be enough to save him this time.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I caved and wrote a follow-up.

For two weeks Slade sat at the bedside of his mate, watching every flicker on the vitals monitor and praying he’d survive. It wasn’t often he let his emotions guide him. Let a faith he’d left behind in childhood reappear. Slade’s pretty sure the last time he was this worried was when Joey’d had his throat slit.

Two agonising weeks of Jason being in a medically induced coma. A steady infusion of synthetic omega hormone being pumped into his body with the sedation. The worst bit for Slade was that he knew how proud his mate usually was of being an omega. How he defied stereotypes, not just in physicality but also in the job he did. It had broken him a little more when the nurses had reassured him they knew what they were doing as they’d seen many other omegas try the same thing. He’d only just been able to stop himself from exploding at them when he overheard them talking at the nurses station about the obvious suspected abuse by alphas done to his mate.

Billy and Alfred managed to contain his rage by pointing out that his scent spiking had clearly made it through the sedation. Where his mate had been peacefully asleep, his face slack and vital signs level, he’s now in clear distress. His vitals were spiking as if he was preparing for a fight or to flee while his scent, that up until now had been near undetectable in the room, is oozing out calming pheromones to appease the angry alpha.

It’s a turn towards the positive. Up until that point everyone had been on a knifes edge. The very real possibility of Jason damaging his body beyond repair or even ending up dead far higher than his chance at a full survival. It’s a change that prompts Slade to settle back down. His hand returning to a position it’s barely left, wrapped tightly around his mate’s. His thumb rubbing circles on the back of Jason’s hand.

Even Talia bursting into the room and demanding answers as to why her son was in such a condition didn’t dampen Slade’s joy at the milestone. William jumped up to show Talia the footage from the Hood. Her expression twisting as she watched her ex-fiancé verbally humiliate her pup and her own secondary gender. The woman’s rage had always been silent, a deadly viper that strikes in the darkest of night. Her enemies fearing her far more than they feared her father. Her omega instincts making her twice as deadly, thrice as vicious, and infinitely more likely to hold a grudge than any alpha who’d ever held her position. He had expected to be told she’d deal with it all. Her retribution being swift as the Flash and as precise as Zsasz with a blade. Instead the mother of two had looked Slade in the eye and promised him anything _he_ needed to get their revenge. A gesture that went a long way to healing the rift that had formed once Jason told her he’d fallen for the mercenary.

None of them expected the way Jason would wake once they started to reduce the sedation. However, after the way he’d exploded onto the underworld crime scene after his death they shouldn’t have been surprised. When the sedation reached sixty per cent of the total he’d previously been on, the weaning process expected to take several hours seemed to happen instantly. He sat upright, hand flying up to yank the intubation tube out. Slade might be faster than average but even he slows down after two weeks of little to no sleep and so couldn’t stop his mate.

The way he woke up wasn’t what concerned Slade. It was the burning green back in those teal eyes and the way he flinched at the shadow cast by the bathroom door. Such a dark patch clearly making his mate see the Bat. That flinch made him shake off his sleepiness and pull his mate into a hug. The younger man’s face getting buried against his alpha’s mating glade, the ever present potent mix of their scents settling him down into a purr.

Two weeks had felt like hell on Earth to the three people watching over Jason. In the end it felt like a single battle in a long war when Slade had to nurse his mate back to health over a further three and a half months. Alfred even going so far as to take a chunk of his accumulated vacation days so he can aid his grandson’s recovery. The Englishman confiding in his fellow SAS comrade that he hasn’t been able to look at Bruce since; his own anger too visceral to control.

Jason seems changed, and not for the better as far as Slade is concerned. He jumps at anyone using a hint of alpha tone in their voice, even on tv. His shoulders curling up and his scent turning sour. It’s one of the things that makes the older mercenary realise just how much he loves the younger man. Sure he knew he loved him before; he just hadn’t realised how deep it went. While his mate may not act like the Jason he’d fallen in love with, he’s still his Jay.

By the three and a half month mark Slade is at a loss as to how he can further help his mate recover. He has run ideas by both William and Alfred so many times that the three of them have gone through enough tea to drown the British. Jason had accepted therapy with a weird level of compliance, had allowed his alpha to change his dressings and dole out his medications. All things he’d never done before, at least not without a fight. Jason seemed to be on edge and none of them could figure out what it was. Then the call had come.

Alfred had been reading with Jason in the younger man’s extensive library when his cellphone had gone off. A simple tone, one used exclusively for Bruce. The older gentleman hadn’t even had a chance to excuse himself because Jason was jumping from his seat and running to Slade. His scent screaming at Slade’s instincts to protect and destroy. Unable to risk the safety of his grandson, Alfred had answered Bruce’s request to return home. Unwilling to risk the alpha hunting him down and further harming the boy.

For the week after Alfred left Jason hid. Curling up in his safest nest. Squirrelled away in a closet within their safe room. Every item of clothing and fabric in shades of oranges and dark blues. The only exception being the small set of stuffed toys that sat on the very top of the nest; Arsenal, Starfire, Troia, White Lantern and Red Hood. The last one being commissioned by the quartet after finding out about Jason’s collection, a collection Slade had given him after seeing his mate’s longing glances at them.

The older man was convinced he’d be shoved away. That his omega would refuse to allow an alpha into his most secure nest. Instead, Jason had whined for him until he’d gotten the message and crawled in. William laughing at Slade’s attempts to get inside without disturbing a single linen. Quickly falling quiet when Jason had reached for him too. The older beta never having been asked into any of their nests. Jason had chosen his family, his pack, and it was clear it no longer contained the Bats or his first grandparent. 

William gets kicked out a few days later when Jason _finally_ goes into heat. His first since the incident. As a beta he quickly assumed a role he’d not played to in decades, bringing sustenance to the mating pair and supporting them through the time. Unlike all his other heats where Jason has been almost insatiable with desire, his first one is horrendous. Pain lances through every scent gland on his body, as if they need to reconnect. His cramps, which he could usually handle with a couple paracetamol or a hot compress, double him over and have him convinced he’s back in the burning waters of the Pit. A sensation made worse by the extreme heat surging through his system.

As a kid living in the apartment building with his first mother Jason had seen omegas going through ‘the change’. The constant red flush to their cheeks belying the way they felt like they were melting. It was nothing compared to the heat felt when an omega in a dangerous situation finally felt safe again. When he’d been solely with Roy and Kori they’d been witness to omegas going through dangerous stress heats once they realised they were finally safe. This wasn’t a stress heat, no this was the nightmare that came with the first heat after the fact. The one that came once The Outlaws had left and the omegas lives continued to be safe. Their biology flooding their systems as if they’re presenting all over again, only with much higher hormone levels. Even the lack of desire to have sex is the same as a presentation heat. A messed-up way of the body flushing out every last milligram of abuse induced cortisol they’d collected.

Watching anyone go through it is traumatising. The data for mates who see this type of heat is infinitesimal, as it’s often rescue from said mate that triggers the reaction. Slade is at a loss. He knows how to deal with the arousal, the temperature, and the cramps. He isn’t sure how to deal with a mate who looks like they’re one strong breeze away from toppling over and dying. By the time the heat breaks Slade knows he’s never given as many massages that didn’t end in sex as he has over those five days. The same goes for the number of times he scooped Jason into a cool bath and helped him wash. Surprising most of all for the older mercenary is how he doesn’t mind all he does. He finds enjoyment from managing to pull deep rumbling purrs that show absolute relaxation.

Once the heat passes Jason seems to be more like his old self. He’s more confident in his body, self-esteem growing as his therapist helps him realise he isn’t the one at fault. Slade’s constant love and attention showing that he loves his omega. He’d even made a point of telling the younger man that he loved how he always put the safety of pups before his own life, even when it terrified him.

William still isn’t allowed to leave. The beta, as far as Jason is concerned, needing twice daily scent marking to reassure himself that his family hasn’t abandoned him because of a thing out of his control. He doesn’t mind too much as it means he too feels like he’s finally got a family once again. Something he was convinced wouldn’t happen once Slade started closing himself off from the world after Grant’s death.

None of it sits quite right with Slade though. A constant feeling of unworthiness sitting in his stomach as he hasn’t retaliated to Jason’s ex-pack. He knows his mate needs him close by, but he also knows he’d want him to get revenge. It’s five months after the incident that Slade makes a decision.

The three members of the Wilson pack pile into the car and take the three hour journey from Washington DC to Gotham. Slade hadn’t wanted to bring Jason along. However, as soon as the omega found out where Slade was going and what he was planning he’d insisted on them all going. His scent spiking with fear over what the Bats might do to his mate.

As she’d promised Talia set them up in the city. A suite in the Gotham Grand already paid for, along with the surrounding ones filled with her own people. Each of them omegas to help her son feel more comfortable. The security of her son paramount. A number of them had watched Jason grow as a teen in the League and were happy to see him again. Each of them scent marking him in a show of familial support.

That night Slade took to the streets, the bike provided by Talia having override codes for the cave preprogrammed in. A couple of League operatives were with him, although the majority had stayed behind at her behest to keep her son safe. He knew the Bats didn’t know about his relationship with Jason. If they had he’d have been threatened by one or more of them. It had upset his mate at first, how none of them seemed to care enough about him to pick up on his happier demeanour. Now it had its advantages.

Roaring into the cave was a surreal experience. Sure, Slade had broken in a couple of times. Mainly to spook the Bat and prove he could get around the security. This time was different. He didn’t have to spend hours tediously fiddling with the traps, he only had to approach the blast doors and they opened seamlessly for him.

Every Bat and Bird was on high alert as the three bikes came to a stop. The five people dismounting. It was obvious who they were. Slade was fully decked out in his Deathstroke armour and the League operatives were wearing Talia’s colours.

“What are you doing here?” Bruce growled out. Trying to use the deepest alpha tone he usually only reserved for terrifying his rouges in the streets. 

Slade scoffed. He couldn’t help it. He’d never been afraid of the man and at one point had even had respect for him. Their morals may have differed but Slade respected skill. That respect had exploded into burning hatred quicker than a certain warehouse in Ethiopia when he’d found his mate mutilated. “I’m here to have a conversation.”

Watching out the corner of his eye he saw Dick moving to try to take him down. He didn’t have to worry about that though. One of Talia’s people had already turned their body to intercept if Dick lunged. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you Dick.” He pulled his mask off, his scent bursting into the cave as the blocking systems disengaged within the suit. “I’m here to ask you all a question and have a conversation. Nothing more.”

They could all smell the crisp sincerity of truth underlined with protectiveness. They’d all smelt truth in his scent before. Slade wasn’t a man who felt the need to lie. They hadn’t ever smelt the protectiveness that now existed. “So talk.” The Bat growled once again.

Slade couldn’t help but smirk. Alfred was stood with the Bats but he looked only too happy to let the mercenary do whatever he wanted. “What gives you the right to abuse my omega?” His voice remained calm. The same calm he usually entered during a mission settling into him here. He knew he’d be the one walking away unharmed.

Dick spluttered from where he had been crouched in a railing to their side. The young alpha almost losing his balance. “Since when do you have an omega?” It was clear he thought Slade was joking. Using it as a tactic to distract them before he pounced.

“I’ve been mated to the best person I’ve ever met for the past three years, been with him for even longer. At first he was hurt that only one of his family worked out he’d found a mate.” Slade turned his gaze back to Bruce. “Then he realised he didn’t care as you’d never valued his happiness over your mission. He discovered what it means to have an alpha who values his opinion and loves him _unconditionally_ , not one who berates him for something he cannot change. Something he shouldn’t have to change if I’m being honest.”

“Why does it sound like you’re suddenly talking about Jason?” Dick spoke up before Bruce could. Then again the mercenary didn’t think the Bat was going to speak up. It looked too much like he’d blue-screened at finding out his pack’s only omega had moved on. Had found the unconditional love, respect, and support he truly deserved.

Slade let out his own growl at the lack of response from Bruce. If someone had tried to mate with one of his omega children without his knowledge he’d be furious while also analysing every ounce of guilt he felt to see if he could have been better. He knew that wasn’t what was happening here. No, the Bat was just angry that he’d lost his verbal (and sometimes literal) punching bag. “I am talking about Jason. Who, by the way, is doing much better since his mission with you guys. Not that you’d know what happened. That would involve you actually caring about my omega.” The way he said ‘my’, along with the almost choking levels of protective scent suddenly bursting from him, made the younger Bats feel uneasy. He could see Damian, especially, looked deeply uneasy; edging closer to worry for the man he’d been raised to see as a brother while living with Talia.

“I tried to talk him out of the mission. Nothing ever good comes of him seeing you lot. Still, my Jay being who he is, couldn’t let the children in the case be risked. He knew none of you would notice if they were about to be harmed and knew he’d be unable to live with himself if he turned you down and they ended up hurt.” Slade let out a sigh. His demeanour changing to that of someone who is despondent. “We agreed to twice daily check-ins and that he’d wear a tracking bracelet Roy designed for us. Usually it’s me that wears them as I’m often the one going into hostile territory.”

The implication that the couple viewed the Bat pack as hostile territory didn’t go unnoticed. Bruce opened his mouth to retort, getting instantly cut off by Slade. “It’s a fucking good job he wore it too. You know why?” He looked at each of them, confusion cutting through the uneasy on over half of them. He made a note to contact Stephanie Brown, Duke Thomas, and Damian after this was all over. They clearly had no idea what had happened and seemed the most concerned for his mate’s welfare.

“I’ll tell you fucking why. I found my omega bleeding and unconscious. He’d overdosed on alpha hormones and tried to cut out his scent glands. All in an effort to make himself into someone who would appease you and prevent any further abuse by you.” He shifted back onto his heels, the movement undetectable to the untrained eye, to keep himself from storming up to Bruce and giving him the physical beating he deserved. From the look of the man, he was successfully giving that smack down and could prevent the arduous task of cleaning blood from his suit if he held himself back. “If you had known Jason at all, you’d have known he always puts pups first. It has nothing to do with being an omega; he’s nothing like a standard omega, which you should have known as his old pack alpha. He puts pups first because it’s the right thing to do. No-one ever put him first as a pup, not even you.”

Slade took a deep breath. He could feel himself getting too angry. He was going to slip up, jump the fucker, if he didn’t get himself under control.

“You really expect me to take the word of someone who kills for money when it comes to my son?” Bruce asked. Slade could hear the eye roll he’d be doing if he wasn’t more robot than man. It was oddly infuriating.

One of Talia’s people stepped forward. They pulled off the hood and shocked everyone in the room, even Slade. Stood next to him was the beauty that was Talia. In his younger, less stable days he’d have wanted her, now he appreciated her as his mother-in-law. One of the bikes must have turned off without him noticing, the woman wouldn’t have stayed hidden amongst her people while her son was right there.

“Talia,” Bruce growled. His voice hitching as he looked at the woman he’d always have conflicting feelings for.

“No, you have no right to talk or speak my name. I am here about my eldest who I have had to pray would make it through his coma. A coma he was in because of you. Jason is not your son. I may allow you to be Damian’s father, but I will no longer let you consider yourself Jason’s father. He has been my son far longer than he has been yours. I brought him back legally, I adopted him when he was catatonic. You have never cared for that wonderful boy.” She looked over to Damian, her face softening as she looked at her youngest. “Habibi, if you wish to stay with your father I won’t stop you. Just remember to call your brother and I occasionally. Okay? He misses you, even if he won’t say anything for fear of how your father will react.”

Damian nodded at his mother’s words. Flinching when Bruce sent him a sharp look. Disapproval radiating off the adult. It was clear that the kid felt like he was being pulled in two directions. One had the caring love of a mother and brother. The other had a loving brother but a cold, distant father. A father he felt he owed time with due to the man not knowing him until he was eight.

“He is my son. He is this packs omega. Clearly we need to remind him of his place.” Bruce snapped out at the pair.

Slade felt like ice was filling his veins at the threat. Out the corner of his eye he saw Talia shift, her hands closing in on the sword at her hip and the blade hidden in her sleeve. “You will not touch my omega. You aren’t his pack alpha anymore. I know this because he didn’t feel safe until Alfred left us. If he doesn’t see the man who’d always been his grandfather as someone to be himself around, a man who came to our mating ceremony, then Jay has clearly cut ties with you all. Hell, the damage he did probably erased any existing pack bond. Something I am very grateful for.”

The man walked to his bike and swung his leg over the beast. His mask was held between his hands, the orange and blue surface reflecting his face. He could sense the Bats and Birds moving closer, clearly wanting to intercept him before he left. “If you go near my mate again, contact him in any way, I will kill you. You will not win a challenge Bruce, so don’t even try.” With his final piece said, he slipped his mask back on. The filtered air cool against his face. He wanted nothing more than to curl up with his mate. To reassure himself that he’d survived the horrors this supposed family had caused him to do.

For all of Slade’s life he’d hated abusive alphas. He’d sworn he’d be different. That he wouldn’t take after his father. It had been many years, and a couple of relationships since then. He had tried his hardest to stick to it but even his absence had been abuse in the past. It was different now. His mate came with him on jobs. Had said that if they had pups they’d come with them too. He wanted them to be together and not constantly wondering what the other was doing for months at a time. He had fought the Bat many times over his life, not once had he regretted holding back from killing the man. Not until he’d found his mate all those months ago and discovered just how disgusting he truly was. This was a kill he’d happily make for free if Jason ever wanted it.

As the trio of bikes drove back through Gotham towards the hotel, all Slade could think about was his mate. A holiday plan started forming. They could both use a break. A second honeymoon almost. A chance to reconnect and for him to show his mate just how he appreciated every aspect of his being.


End file.
